Hockinson Heights Elementary School hosted its annual Science Fair on January 22 and saw strong student engagement across all grade levels. Approximately 460 students, nearly half of the school’s population, participated in the event through a combination of classroom and individual projects.
Students built models, conducted controlled experiments, and practiced communicating their scientific findings to others. For Ms. Christofferson and Ms. Nocciolo-Tugaw, HHES science teachers who organized the event, the takeaway extends beyond the final display.
"We hope that students just form a love of science and see how science is in everything we do," Ms. Nocciolo-Tugaw said. After all, it plays a role in everyday experiences like baking, music, and the environment.
Participation included classroom display boards from all four transitional kindergarten classes, three kindergarten classes, and three first-grade classes, who explored “science with candy." One second-grade class also created a display board based on its science unit, along with four third-grade classes that presented work tied to their weather or forces-and-motion units. In addition to classroom projects, about 45 third- and fourth-graders and all of fifth grade created individual display boards.